Cheese analogue facts for kids
Cheese analogues are foods that look and taste like real cheese, but they are made differently. Instead of using milk from animals, these substitutes use other ingredients, often from plants. For example, the fat in milk might be replaced with plant oils. Sometimes, even the proteins found in milk are replaced with proteins from other sources.
People choose cheese analogues for different reasons. Some have lactose intolerance, which means their bodies can't digest the sugar in milk. Others choose them for personal reasons, like being vegan (not eating any animal products) or for religious beliefs. Making cheese analogues often costs less than making real cheese.
The way cheese analogues are made allows for changes in how they behave. For instance, their melting temperature can be adjusted. You can also add special flavors to make them taste like different cheeses, such as Parmesan or feta. Food coloring is used to give them the right color. Unlike real cheese, which needs time to ripen, cheese analogues are usually made quickly. They are often created by heating vegetable oil and mixing it with a special powder and water. After adding flavors and cooling down, they are ready to be packaged.
In places like Europe, cheese analogues are used in cooking and bakeries. In the United States, they are sold as a direct replacement for real cheese. They are popular with people who want to avoid dairy for health or personal reasons.
What is Vegan Cheese?
Just like plant milk (like almond or soy milk), vegan cheese is made without any animal products. It can be made from ingredients such as soybeans, rice, almonds, or nutritional yeast. This type of cheese is made for vegans and anyone else who wants to avoid animal products. This might be for moral reasons, religious beliefs, or health reasons like lactose intolerance or wanting to avoid cholesterol.
Vegan cheeses often have less fat than dairy cheese and contain no cholesterol. They can also be a good source of soy protein. Many brands also add calcium to them. Some vegan cheeses melt just like dairy cheese, which is great for things like pizza. Others stay more firm or only melt a little when grated.
Here are some types of vegan cheese you might find:
Pizza Cheese Analogues
Some cheese analogues are specially made to melt well on pizza. These are sometimes called "analogue pizza cheese". They are often used on commercially produced pizzas, especially in North America. These cheeses are designed to be made using simpler equipment than traditional Mozzarella.
Pizza cheese analogues usually have a soft texture. When they melt, they can become slightly "stringy" when you pull a slice of pizza. It's believed that pizza cheese is the most common type of cheese analogue made around the world. Back in 1987, it was estimated that three-quarters of the 700 million frozen pizzas sold in the United States each year used cheese substitutes.
Images for kids
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Provel pizza cheese in a five-pound block. This product is commonly used in the preparation of St. Louis-style pizza.
See also
In Spanish: Substituto del queso para niños
